In the midst of the yelling and stamping people sat a ragged fellow on an upturned cask; he had a bloated, pimply face, a brandy-nose, and black, greasy hair--a figure, the sight of which made Paul shudder. It was he who had played the flute.
Petrified with horror, the boy stared at him. It seemed to him as if the heavens were falling and the world going to ruin.
The musician now put down his flute, uttered a few coa.r.s.e words in a rough, hoa.r.s.e voice, greedily swallowed the brandy which was handed to him by the by-standers, and, beating time with his feet, began playing a vulgar ballad, which the listeners accompanied with loud brawling.
Then Paul fled from the den, and ran and ran till he was perfectly dizzy, as if he wished to escape from his own thoughts.
When he was alone on the storm-swept heath, from the extremity of which a sulphurous streak of evening light was shining, he stopped, hid his face in his hands, and cried bitterly.
In the winter which followed, Paul stopped whistling altogether, and flute-playing disgusted him even more. When he thought of it there stood before his eyes the figure of the outcast who had profaned his yearnings for art.
He did not see Elsbeth any more. With the beginning of the cold weather the confirmation-cla.s.ses had been transferred from the church to the vicarage, and as there was no room there large enough to hold all the candidates, the boys and girls were taught separately. Sometimes he saw Elsbeth"s carriage pa.s.s, but she herself was so wrapped up in furs and shawls that her face could not be recognized. He did not even know whether she had seen him.
At this time he had to suffer much vexation from the brothers Erdmann, who knew how to torment him beyond endurance. He was perfectly powerless against them, for each of them was twice as strong as he; besides, they always attacked him both at the same time, and while one held him the other pinched. Not that they were thoroughly vicious; on the contrary, they knew how to practise benevolence and generosity towards others; but his quiet, reserved nature was just what they hated with all their heart. They called him a hypocrite and a Puritan, and when they had thrashed him would say, "There, now go and tell tales of us; that would be just like you."
His rancor against these antagonists grew stronger and stronger. He often reproached himself with behaving in a cowardly and dishonorable manner, and accused himself of having a low, servile nature. One day, when he ran up and down in the snow, he worked himself into such a fury that he resolved to rid himself of these two wicked brothers were it at the risk of his own life. He ran to the stables where the grindstone stood, thawed the frozen water in the tub, and sharpened his pocket-knife till it cut a piece of the thinnest tissue-paper. But when, on the following Monday, he was again thrashed, he had not the courage to draw it from his pocket, and had once more to reproach himself with cowardice. He put it off till the next time; but that was the end of it.
From his father, too, he had much to endure. The latter was again taken up with grand plans, and when this was the case he always felt very superior, and in an especially bad humor with Paul, whom he despised for his narrow-mindedness.
"Why has not the tiniest spark of my genius been transmitted to that boy?" he would remark; "how beautifully I could educate him to a.s.sist in my plans. But he is too stupid--everything is lost upon him." It was now his intention to found a company to make his moor profitable, to bring capital together, and to be himself named director of it all, with a salary of several thousand thalers. Every week he drove into town two or three times, and often did not come home even on the following day.
"It is difficult enough," he would say, when he had slept off his intoxication, "but I"ll be even with the n.i.g.g.ards! That Douglas, too, insolent fellow, shall pay for it. If I only knew how to tackle him. I will never enter Helenenthal again, were it only that I might not see how the fellow has neglected it--for that he certainly has done--and in town I never get sight of him. But pay for it--pay for it he shall. If he does not immediately sign a whole bushel of shares, the devil take him."
Frau Elsbeth listened sadly to all this without saying a word, but Paul used secretly to take down the key of the shed from its shelf, and go off to have mute intercourse with "Black Susy." He stuck to the belief that she would be the means of saving them.
When the Easter holidays were over, the confirmation-cla.s.ses were again held in the church. Boys and girls met together after a half year"s separation.
Elsbeth had changed very much during the winter. She almost looked like a grown-up lady now.
She wore a longer dress and her hair was arranged in little curls on her forehead.
Paul saluted her very shyly; he felt as if he were no longer fit for her; but she rose from her seat, walked a few steps towards him, and shook his hand heartily before everybody"s eyes. During the ensuing lesson a sheet of paper was circulated among the boys which caused much mirth. On it was written, with all sorts of flourishes:
"_Paul Meyerhofer, Elsbeth Douglas, Betrothed."_
The writing was that of the younger Erdmann. Paul"s hand searched for his knife; for a moment he felt as if he could draw it on his neighbor here in the open church. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper from his hand and tore it into little pieces.
Elsbeth looked at him wonderingly, and the vicar called him to order.
Then he became terrified at his own audacity. The Erdmanns must have understood that on this subject he would not stand any joking, and made no further attempts to tease him about Elsbeth.
The confirmation took place on the last Sunday before Whitsuntide. The night before, Paul could not sleep, and at sunrise quietly got up, put on the new clothes which his good aunt had sent him for this occasion, and took a walk through the quiet yard and over the dewy fields, till he reached the moor, which in its flowery garb lay brightly extended before him.
At the sight of the rising sun he folded his hands and said an ardent prayer. From this day forth he resolved to begin a new and better life, forgive all offences, and love his enemies, as Jesus Christ had commanded. Then he thought of the knife which he had once ground with a view to the Erdmanns; he pulled it out of his pocket and threw it far away over the moor, where it sank down in the swamp with a gurgling sound. Hot tears streamed from his eyes; he thought himself bad and reprobate, and totally unworthy to stand before G.o.d"s altar; he scarcely dared to go home to the farm; only when the twins came rushing towards him in their brand-new muslin dresses did he feel happier and easier in his mind. He embraced his sisters, and vowed in silence to be a true friend and support to them.
Then came his mother, dressed in a faded silk gown, kissed him on his forehead and cheeks, and held his face between her two hands for a long while, looking fixedly into his eyes. She wanted to say something to him, but she could get out nothing more than "My boy, my dear boy!"
Even his father was in the rosiest humor to-day. He took both Paul"s hands in his, and made him a long speech as to how he must learn to look out for what was great in human life, and to emulate him, his father, who, though always pursued by misfortune and plundered by the wickedness of men, had never allowed himself to be discouraged from aspiring to the stars, even in this miserable hole into which adverse fate had let him sink. And he knitted his brows and ruffled his hair, every inch of him grandeur and importance.
Paul kissed both his hands and promised everything. At eight o"clock he saw on the high-road which led across the heath a carriage roll by, the silver ornaments of which sparkled in the morning sun.
For a long time he looked after it. Everything seemed to him like a dream. He felt so exultantly glad that he was almost overpowered by happiness. "How have I deserved all this?" he asked himself; and then he began brooding over what the first trouble would be which would drag him down from this bliss. When the twins announced to him that the carriage stood ready for the drive to church he felt sad and depressed.
In the vicarage garden, where syringa and lilac were in bloom, and where the sunbeams glittered on the lawn, stood two little groups of human beings apart from each other--one black, the other white. The former were the boys, the latter the girls.
Elsbeth, in her snowy muslin dress with a lace handkerchief crossed over her bosom, looked white and graceful as a hawthorn blossom.
Her cheeks were very pale, and she kept her eyes lowered, and played alternately with her hymn-book and a twig of lilac, both of which she held in her hand.
Paul looked at her for a long time, but she did not see him. She would not be disturbed in her devotion by any worldly thought.
And then the vicar came; the bells pealed, the organ resounded, and the procession, ranged in couples, advanced slowly towards the altar.
Paul walked close behind the two Erdmanns, who in their long black coats looked very solemn and demure. Suddenly the consciousness of his guilt overcame him more forcibly than ever. He bent forward a little, touched them softly on the shoulder, and whispered, with moist eyes,
"Forgive me, I have behaved so badly to you."
They nudged each other and smiled maliciously. One of them half turned round, and whispered, with a face of pathetic misery and a look of injured innocence,
"My son, we forgive you."
Paul felt very well that they were mocking him, but his heart was so full of devotion and love that no mocking could affect him.
The children ranged themselves on both sides of the altar.
Paul sent a shy glance into the body of the church, which was crammed with people, but he could not distinguish anybody.
The hour for the sermon was past. He gazed down before him. All seemed like a dream.
A little later he felt his knees resting on a soft cushion and the hand of the vicar on his head. What he said to him he did not hear. He saw Elsbeth on the other side, crying quietly with her handkerchief to her eyes, and thought,
"Ah, cry away, cry away, you will soon laugh again."
And then he asked himself why people always laughed so much, while on the whole there were so few laughable things in the world.
The organ now intoned the hymn, "Praise ye the Lord, the mighty King of Glory." The chorus of the congregation sounded jubilant, and his gaze wandered up to the sunbeams which fell in iridescent light through the painted church windows like a rainbow.
And while he was gazing at it he suddenly started. Just opposite the cross which crowned the altar stood a dark woman clad in gray, of supernatural stature, looking down upon him with big, hollow eyes. It was the penitent Magdalene.
He felt a cold shudder run through his frame.
"Dame Care," he murmured, and bent his head as if he wished to accept with humility what she might grant him for life.
And when he lifted his eyes again the sun shone more magnificently than before.
Fiery red and emerald green sparkled the rays, weaving a radiant halo round the gray dame"s head.
But she stood there sadly in the midst of all the brilliant radiance, and stared down upon him with her big, hollow eyes.
Then the organ began the finale with swelling chords. A joyful thrill pa.s.sed through the congregation. The troop of children hastened to throw themselves into the arms of their parents, and a kindly glance greeted him from Elsbeth"s eyes.